Brooks Koepka explains why he misses playing PGA Tour events

Brooks Koepka admitted there are some PGA Tour events he misses playing, after making the switch to LIV Golf.

This year’s PGA Championship winner was speaking before the US Open, an event he’s won twice before.

He explained that he misses playing on events such as the Waste Management Phoenix Open, and said he would be open to playing PGA Tour events again, following last week’s merger news.

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“I’ve always enjoyed the Waste Management,” he said.

“I thought that was a fun event. But I think that kind of goes into the whole thing with the chaos. There’s a lot of people, a lot of things going on, where it’s a lot of fun to play. I’ve enjoyed it. I’ve won there twice.

“That’s one place I guess I miss playing. But yeah, I’d have to go through the whole schedule. Memphis I’ve always played well. There’s certain events you always like.”

Another event that the five-time major champion alluded to was the Alfred Dunhill Links Pro Am, played over the Old Course at St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns.

“I’ve always liked the Dunhill. I thought that was a fun event. St Andrews is my favourite course in the whole world, so I’ll take any chance I can to go play there.”

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Koepka was also keen to point out how now, fully recovered from injuries that hindered him for months, he feels like a new person.

He admitted that if he were to do things again, he would take up to a year off to fully recover from his major knee surgery.

“I was definitely more confused last year just trying to figure out why I was feeling the way I was feeling,” he explained.

“I felt like I had enough time from surgery to that point. It’s like anything, right? I tried to come back too soon and then it was like, well, ‘if I can walk 18 holes, I can play golf.’

“I just kept playing through it and never let my body heal, and then from there I just created some bad habits. By the time you actually figure out that you’re starting to get healthy, you’ve got to get rid of those bad habits and it’s a whole new process.

“It takes a long time. Any athlete that’s ever been injured really knows what it’s like. It’s not fun. It’s painful. But you’ve just got to suck it up and deal with it.”

This week, Koepka comes into the event as one of the favourites to win, but it sounds like topping the experience of his win at Oak Hill would be tough to do. He had no hesitation in describing that as his favourite of his five major titles.

“They all mean something different, but this last one, for all the stuff I had to deal with, all the pain, the tears, all the stuff that went into it.

“Like I said, there’s probably five, seven people in this whole world that really know what I went through and that were there kind of every step of the way.

“I think they enjoyed it maybe even more than I did.”

Koepka will get his US Open challenge underway in a marquee group, with Rory McIlroy and Hideki Matsuyama for company.

Lewis Fraser As bunkered’s Performance Editor, Lewis oversees the content that’s designed to make you a better player. From the latest gear to tuition, nutrition, strategy and more, he’s the man. A graduate of the University of Stirling, Lewis joined bunkered in 2021. Formerly a caddie at Castle Stuart Golf Links, he is a member of Bathgate Golf Club where he plays off four.

Performance Editor